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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: clip · rock · bat · mate · last · straw · kid · cue

  1. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rock — a stone
  2. clip — to cut
  3. mate — a partner
  4. cue — a hint
  5. last — finally
  6. last — final
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. cue — a signal
  9. kid — to tease
  10. bat — the animal
  11. clip — a video
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. last — to go on
  14. cue — for pool
  15. clip — for paper
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. kid — child
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. rock — music
  22. mate — to breed
  23. mate — a friend
  24. bat — in an idiom

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com